FRl'IT CULTURE 



173 



fruits about an inch in length, possessing an aromatic sweet taste. 

 Usually too small to be worth eating, though said to be appreci- 

 ated and much consumed in some localities, especially in Cuba. 

 Introduced to Peradeniya in 1907. 



Mimusops Bojeri (Sapotaceas). A slow-growing tree with 

 small ovate or obovate leathery leaves, shiny above and satiny grey 

 beneath. The fruits, produced in November and December, are 

 of the size of small plums, borne in clusters at the ends of 

 the branches; each fruit contains from 2 to 4 large oblong 



brown seeds ; the 

 pulp, surrounded by 

 a thin skin, has a 

 sweet taste, not un- 

 like the Sa pod ilia 

 plum. The tree con- 

 tains a white gummy 

 latex, thrives in 

 Ceylon up to 1,500ft. 

 elevation, and is pro- 

 pagated from seeds. 



Monstera deli- 

 ciosa. ( A r o i d e ae , 



A r u m f a m i 1 y ) . 

 A noble epiphytic 

 creeper with large, 

 scolloped and perfor- 

 ated leaves, native of 

 Mexico. It producer 

 in the axils of the 

 uppermost leaves a 

 cone-like fruit (spa- 

 i//.r). 6 to 8 inches 

 long, which is edible 

 and has a pleasant 



odour when ripe. The fruit has an agreeable flavour suggesting 

 a pine-apple, but is rather juiceless. Its chief drawback, however, 

 is the presence of minute black spines attached to the inside 

 portion, which cause a disagreeable itching in the throat. The 

 plant is a creeper, and requires stout tree trunks to grow upon. It 

 may be readily propagated by placing cuttings in a mixture of old 

 bark, leaf mould and coir-refuse at the has- of the tree on which 



Monstcni 



FRUIT KDIHLK. 



